The children were gathered in a newly dug cave, made to bury the eleven people they lost today. They might have won the battle, but they lost something great today. They lost a leader. Most of the children did not understand how John died. When they left the necromancer’s lair, he was still alive. Suddenly, D’aka carried his dead body outside. Most of the kids who witnessed his death were silent, they were not ready to tell the truth yet.

  Meanwhile Regulus came out carrying Azali’s body — only her upper bodies though. All the six children lost their lower bodies. Only Tera and the prisoners could guess what Carven did to them, while the children did not even want to imagine it. They were just glad Regulus came to save them before they ended up like that.

  Regulus placed the bodies one by one. He handed each one of them his most favorite object in the world — a copper Azul. As he handed Azali a copper Azul, there’s a great sense of emptiness. He was once Regulus Eda Grigori Azali. Now he was just Regulus Eda Grigori.

  The last body to be given a copper Azul was John. Regulus did not quite understand what made John despise him. He must have done something wrong along the way. He handed John a copper Azul — he hoped John would not be mad about it.

  After Regulus was done with his ritual, the children said their goodbye to the person they were closest with. After a few farewells, they all left one by one. In the end, only Regulus, D’aka, and Uri that still stayed behind. Regulus was waiting for the two of them to leave before he caved in the entrance into the burial cave.

  Uri was looking at John’s body, which was placed near Andy's. He… did not know how to feel about it. His rage had subsided, its target killed himself. Now, his heart felt oddly calm. D’aka approached him, he looked so tired. Just like him he unexpectedly lost a best friend today. Uri felt a sense of camaraderie he never felt with D’aka before.

  “Uri… I’m sorry about John.” D’aka apologized to Uri in John’s place — he was responsible for Andy’s death. He admitted it by himself. But Uri no longer cared about it. “Not your fault D’aka… and wasn’t John’s either.” Uri tapped D’aka shoulder as he left the cave. He did not truly believe that, but he did not want D’aka to feel guilty in John’s place. Uri took one last glance at Regulus before he left. He wondered if one day John’s words would come true.

  Now only D’aka and Regulus were left. D’aka wanted to apologize to Regulus, but no words could come out. He looked at John’s corpse instead. He did not understand why his best friend took his own life. Was it his own fault? Was it Regulus? He thought about it, but he decided not to linger any longer. He left the cave. In that talk, he remembered John’s last advice to him — to be a leader. To be more reliable.

  Regulus was the last one in the cave. In front of him, eleven dead younglings. John killed himself because he felt responsible. But was he truly responsible for all of it? Regulus the one that decided they were part of the herd. These younglings, these humans, were his responsibility. Their time together was short, but Regulus loved every single second of it. Azali brought him joy, and he admired John. Regulus left the cave. It was time to say goodbye — time to move on.

  As he walked, Regulus sliced the earth apart. Caving the place, burying his dead family.

  *********

  Uri and D’aka came out of the burial cave into their old cave. They were greeted by Paulie, Cooper, Kisara, and Tera, the leader of their respective groups. They could tell what they were going to talk about. “John is… We don’t have John anymore. We should discuss who should be our next leader.” Paulie opened the discussion.

  “I nominate Regulus.” Tera said without hesitation. “Who invited this bitch?” Uri snapped. They glared at each other. “Now, now. She’s a representative of the prisoners. They’re a part of us now. We can’t really kick them out can we?” Paulie tried to mediate the two. Uri spat, he did not like it but he could not deny it either.

  “What about you Kisara? You’re a good leader to the girls.” D’aka suggested, trying to get the conversation going. Kisara however, hesitated. “I don’t think I can. I can lead the girls just fine… but the boys…” Cooper laughed at Kisara's comment, “Yeah, you hate most of us. If you’re our leader, you’ll play favorites.” Kisara wanted to slap Cooper, but she could not deny it either.

  “What about you Coop? I always thought you wanted to usurp John.” said Uri. “Is that how it seems to all of you?” Cooper felt a bit hurt by that comment, but most of them nodded. He sighed, trying to explain himself, “Nah man. I like being John’s right hand man, shadow, or whatever. I don’t want to take his place. I’m content leading my own little group. Besides, I don’t know if I could handle John’s responsibility.”

  The group became solemn. They realized how much John had done to keep the group together. However, this was no time to mourn, they needed someone to take his place, so they looked at the best option they had in mind, Paulie. Realizing their gaze, Paulie immediately panicked, “No no no. I can’t do it.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “John always trusted you to delegate things Paulie. And I don’t want to say this… but you’re quite reliable Paulie.” Uri nominated Paulie, and the group agreed with Uri’s assessment. “I can’t. Sure, all of you find me reliable. But not all of us. The rest of the kids wouldn’t listen to me, and rightfully so. I’m lazy, I ran from responsibility, I…” Paulie started naming off all of his shortcomings, and none of the children could deny it.

  “Alright alright. We got it. So who do you have in mind?” Kisara stopped Paulie’s rambling. She did not realize Paulie hated responsibility that much. “... If we’re talking about the person everybody can rely on…” Paulie looked at D’aka. Most of the children, even Tera, silently agreed with Paulie’s recommendation. But D’aka just calmly rejected it. “I’m not suited… I… I can’t do it without John.” The mention of John’s name was enough to damper the mood. D’aka realized this, so he continued talking, “If we’re talking about reliable… Regulus should be our leader.”

  Without a moment of hesitation, Tera agreed with him. “I think so too,” Uri became annoyed by Tera’s meddling. “Shut up for a bit will you?” He snapped at Tera, before looking to address D’aka. “Are you sure about that? Regulus is reliable alright. No one can deny it. But, he doesn’t seem like leader material to me. He’s the type of guy who is happy to just do whatever we ask him too.” Uri’s comment contained some truth to it. Most of the children did not feel like Regulus would be a leader who could tell them what to do… and John’s last words bothered them a bit.

  “Yeah, Regulus is… young and inexperienced. He might not know what the best course of action is… but that’s why we’re here. Regulus will keep us together. And in exchange, we will be someone he can rely on in helping him come up with a plan, helping him make a decision. Regulus should be our leader, and we will be his support… We can’t let him lead alone… like what we did with John.”

  D’aka digressed a bit by the end, but the kids understood what he was trying to say… and they could not deny him. Regulus would be a perfect figurehead for the group. They could be in charge of day-to-day operation while Regulus be their leader in time of crisis — Just like what he had shown in the necromancer’s lair raid. Even if John’s last words still lingered in their mind — they did not have a better option other than Regulus.

  BAM BAM

  The burial cave behind them collapsed. A cloud of dust burst out of the tunnel, and out came Regulus. Seeing Regulus’ figure, the kids came to a unanimous decision. D’aka approached Regulus to deliver the news, and the kids watched from afar, hoping that Regulus would not reject a leadership position — they needed him.

  Regulus put his hand on his chin… thinking. “Alright. I’ll take the responsibility. I’ll be your leader...” The kids were ecstatic, but Regulus was not done talking. “Just promise me one thing. If the day comes you regret ever following me… Tell me, or leave me. Don’t do what John did… Please.” Regulus begged them. He might be impervious to many things… but John’s words hurt him deeply.

  The kids were stunned. None of them expected Regulus to be affected by it. “Regulus… we promise.” Kisara assured Regulus, the other kids nodded in agreement. “Thank you… Now, the first thing we need to do is preparing to move. This cave is no longer safe.” Regulus announced his first order.

  The children agreed with Regulus’ assessment. They had grown quite attached to this cave… but at the same time they were attacked once here. “Where we going Regulus?” Uri asked. “We’re building a new cave… a bit far from here. Harder to access, with multiple exits and one that can be easily caved in… in case of another attack… For now get everyone to pack all our stuff. I’ll return back here once we’re done digging.”

  The children got to action, organizing everyone and preparing to move on a moment notice. Regulus was about to dig, when Eda approached him. “Regulus… I have something to talk about.” Eda was alone. When Regulus was talking with the elder kids, Eda and Grigori had some sort of argument, but Regulus was not focusing on them at the time. Whatever Eda wanted to talk about — it must be related.

  “Regulus… I’m sorry about this.” Eda's legs were fiddling around, her gaze was all over the place. She was lacking the courage to tell Regulus, but she had to. “I want to leave the group Regulus… I cannot do this anymore.” Eda could not look Regulus in the eyes… She was betraying him.

  “Give me a second, Eda.” Regulus left Eda and walked to one of the air holes — the air hole that Eda and Azali tried to evacuate through. He dug the ground near it and pulled an object out of it — Mr.Butter.

  “I was wondering whether I should put Mr.Butter next to Azali… But I think she would like you to have it, Eda.” Regulus handed Mr.Butter to Eda. She looked at it, and remembered how happy Azali was playing with it. She thought she was done crying, but her tears were not dried yet. Eda bent down and hugged Regulus, “Thank you Regulus… there’s a monastery outside the city. I would be there. Come and visit me sometimes, okay.”

  Regulus pat Eda’s back, “I will. And don’t be afraid to look for me if you ever need my help.” Their hug lasted for a while, before Eda finally decided to let go. “Goodbye Regulus. Take care of Grigori, okay.” Regulus nodded. Eda then went to the other girls to say her goodbyes.

  Regulus knew he had to go and dig a new cave, a new home. But before that, he had an important thing to attend to. He pissed on the ground, notifying the nearby molrrets to go dig a new cave without him first — he would follow later.

  Rumble Rumble

  The molrrets went digging. Regulus walked towards Grigori, who was visibly angry. Even a blind guy like Regulus could tell. “Grigori… Eda leaving.” He informed Grigori. Grigori just pouted, “I know.” Grigori was not in the mood to talk. His last remaining sister just decided to leave… to abandon Regulus. He could not accept that.

  “Regulus…” after a few moments of silence, Grigori resolved himself. “ I will never leave you. Never.”

  ********

  Georgina Pamsay was bored out of her mind. The monastery had been chaotic the couple last day. Apparently, there was an earthquake that made half the city panic, and now, a bunch of adults in metal armor were staying in the monastery. The boys were excited to see them, but Georgina personally did not like them. The sisters were busy accommodating the metal adults, so they did not have time to play with her. She wondered when Azali would come back and play.

  With nothing to do, Georgina decided to go to the church. Maybe if she prayed hard enough, the Saintess would gifted her a friend — or better still, summon Azali. She entered the church through the side door, inside, she saw sister Marie talking to a small figure that she recognized — Azali’s big sister, Eda.

  “Big Sis! Big Sis!” Georgina gleefully approached Eda, “Where’s Azali? Is she here to play?” Eda complexion changed. It was an innocent question, and that innocence broke her. “Azali… Azali is… Waaaah.” She fell to her knees, bawling like a child her age. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t.

  Georgina was young, but she was not ignorant. She understood what loss was, she was an orphan, she had lost both her parents. Seeing Eda reminded her of herself, and many other kids in the monastery. Eda had lost someone important, and that person was Azali.

  Georgina hugged Eda, the only comfort she could give. As Eda’s tears and snots flooded her clothes, Georgina prayed to the Saintess statue,

  ‘May Azali find happiness in a better place. The place mom and dad went. Saintess, please tell my friend Azali… Farewell and thank you for being my friend.’